Hello wonderful blogger family, friends, and followers! We wanted to share the most exciting news with all of you! Today, we received a call from the case worker to let us know we have officially been APPROVED!!! She will be sending us an *official* letter next week to inform us of our approval and we will then be transferred to a new case worker, R. (Sorry, I can't disclose this person's name due to privacy reasons.) R. is great because she is the one who works directly with children and adoptive parents!! We are being placed into the state adoption database now, so the case workers who are responsible for the children in state care can see that we are potential adoptive parents.
What happens now? When a potential match is found, R. will contact us with as many details about the child (or children) as they have. If we decide to proceed, then we meet with R., the child's case worker, the child's foster parents (if they are in foster care), and several managers from the local DFCS to discuss this further. If we still decide to proceed with meeting the child (or children), we will meet the child and spend hour-long visits with them. The hour-long visits then turn in to an afternoon, then overnight, then a weekend, and then possibly a week-long stay. If all of the above visits are successful, then the child (or children) will move in with us and then we will begin the process of finalizing the adoption and the child (or children) will be legally ours!!!
When is all this going to happen, you ask? Well, we're not really sure. Our current case worker told us we could get a call as early as next week, or 6-8 months from now (or even longer). For now, we have decided not to make any long-term plans and to take everything one day at a time. We don't know what's going to happen, so taking it one day at a time is all we can do.
We are soooo happy!! We have waited so long to become parents and we know that we have just a small amount of time left. This is the beginning of the end of the process!
We will post again soon!
Showing posts with label timeline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label timeline. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Approval Process Update!
Hello! Just a very quick update in the middle of a very busy week! Russell spoke with our case worker on Monday and we should have our approval from the state by Friday! We need you all to cross your fingers, think about us, pray for us, and everything else you can do to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we hope so desperately to be approved by Friday!
Have a great week everyone! Will blog again when we know more!
Have a great week everyone! Will blog again when we know more!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
2011-a look back
Hello! No new child news yet, but I thought I would take this time to reflect back on our year. It has been an eventful year, full of ups and downs. Here is a (brief) list of things I consider important that happened to us this year.
January-I traveled to New Jersey/New York with my Mom to help her with arrangements for my Uncle's funeral. He was my Mom's only brother and they were very close. It was difficult, not only to see everything, but it was hard to watch my Mom get upset knowing there was nothing I could do to help. The positive side was that I got to meet alot of my New York family that I didn't know so that was great. I got to meet my Great Aunt who is one of the most wonderful women on this planet. She is just a terrific lady who, at 81 years old, is more feisty than I am at times!
February-We officially begin the adoption process by attending orientation at the local DFCS office. We were so excited that we could not hold in our news and we began telling family and friends our good news. This is when we officially became "paper pregnant". Also, Russell began his new job!
March/April-Slowly begin paperwork, first home study completed. On April 20, our new niece Kylie was born! On April 25, our baby Sunny turned 8!
May-We unexpectedly lose Russell's mother on May 20. This was definitely, by far, the most difficult and saddest event of the year for both of us. It is extremely heartbreaking knowing that our child will never get to know either of their paternal grandparents. However, Russell's mother knew about and supported our adoption very much. She was one of our biggest cheerleaders. I am grateful that my parents have been supportive of both Russell and I through this ordeal.
June-Taryn's very busy summer reading program at work. Parenting classes start at the end of June. We meet some wonderful couples and single people who we hope, for their sake, are farther along in the process than we are. We hope that they have not had to deal with as much loss of paperwork and miscommunication as we have! During the classes, we received over 100 pages of paperwork to fill out.
July-Complete our 100+ page paperwork "Bible" for the adoption. Our first great nephew, Aiden, is born! Taryn breathes a sigh of relief as the summer reading program is over....until next year. :)
August-Nothing exciting happens because our paperwork was stuck under someone's desk for a month!! Talk about miscommunication...
September-Taryn turns the Big "3-0". Ouch! More miscommunication and paperwork from the case workers.... We begin going back to church and are enjoying the services, pastor, and meeting new people.
October-All paperwork is completed. Home study #2 is scheduled for November 1! Russell and I celebrated 8 wonderful years of marriage on the 11th.
November-Home studies #2 and #3 completed and passed with flying colors!
December-Case worker says we are in the middle of the approval process and everything is going as planned.
So what does 2012 hold in store for us? I'm not sure, but I hope that, by this time next year, I will posting about the cute things our child does or says, and hopefully asking advice from other parents!
Russell and I hope each and every one of you have a happy and safe New Year's holiday!
-Taryn
January-I traveled to New Jersey/New York with my Mom to help her with arrangements for my Uncle's funeral. He was my Mom's only brother and they were very close. It was difficult, not only to see everything, but it was hard to watch my Mom get upset knowing there was nothing I could do to help. The positive side was that I got to meet alot of my New York family that I didn't know so that was great. I got to meet my Great Aunt who is one of the most wonderful women on this planet. She is just a terrific lady who, at 81 years old, is more feisty than I am at times!
February-We officially begin the adoption process by attending orientation at the local DFCS office. We were so excited that we could not hold in our news and we began telling family and friends our good news. This is when we officially became "paper pregnant". Also, Russell began his new job!
March/April-Slowly begin paperwork, first home study completed. On April 20, our new niece Kylie was born! On April 25, our baby Sunny turned 8!
May-We unexpectedly lose Russell's mother on May 20. This was definitely, by far, the most difficult and saddest event of the year for both of us. It is extremely heartbreaking knowing that our child will never get to know either of their paternal grandparents. However, Russell's mother knew about and supported our adoption very much. She was one of our biggest cheerleaders. I am grateful that my parents have been supportive of both Russell and I through this ordeal.
June-Taryn's very busy summer reading program at work. Parenting classes start at the end of June. We meet some wonderful couples and single people who we hope, for their sake, are farther along in the process than we are. We hope that they have not had to deal with as much loss of paperwork and miscommunication as we have! During the classes, we received over 100 pages of paperwork to fill out.
July-Complete our 100+ page paperwork "Bible" for the adoption. Our first great nephew, Aiden, is born! Taryn breathes a sigh of relief as the summer reading program is over....until next year. :)
August-Nothing exciting happens because our paperwork was stuck under someone's desk for a month!! Talk about miscommunication...
September-Taryn turns the Big "3-0". Ouch! More miscommunication and paperwork from the case workers.... We begin going back to church and are enjoying the services, pastor, and meeting new people.
October-All paperwork is completed. Home study #2 is scheduled for November 1! Russell and I celebrated 8 wonderful years of marriage on the 11th.
November-Home studies #2 and #3 completed and passed with flying colors!
December-Case worker says we are in the middle of the approval process and everything is going as planned.
So what does 2012 hold in store for us? I'm not sure, but I hope that, by this time next year, I will posting about the cute things our child does or says, and hopefully asking advice from other parents!
Russell and I hope each and every one of you have a happy and safe New Year's holiday!
-Taryn
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Results of the final home study!!
Okay, folks, it's what you've been waiting for! Final home study results!
We were so nervous about this final visit. The social worker showed up and Sunny was a complete angel. She remembered her from last time! She was soo cute, she only barked (again) when the case worker did not pet her! She still wanted that attention! All of us sat in the living room while the case worker asked a variety of questions. During that time, Sunny was sleeping on the couch between us. It's almost like if you didn't know she was there, you never would have guessed it.
The questions lasted for about 2 hours again. Then, she had a long checklist of items to look for in our home. She checked for the child safety locks, working fire extinguishers, and working smoke detectors. She noticed that we had two disaster plans - one in the child's room and one in the living room. She also noticed that our cords from the blinds in our home were properly placed so a child could not reach them. Another thing she checked was that all of our rugs in our house had the grip stuff on the bottom so they would not come loose.
We then signed some papers and she left us with one last "homework assignment". We had to create a three-generation family tree for each one of us. We also had to note if the family member was deceased, and the year they were deceased. Taryn's was pretty easy because her family is pretty small. Russell's was kind of difficult, because his Mom and Dad had at least 7 siblings each! But, we figured that out and came up with two great looking family trees! Right before she left, she told us that she thought we would make great parents! Yeah!!!
What happens next? The approval process. The social worker told us that these normally go pretty fast and that we should be approved by the end of the year. And then that's where the fun part begins-we start talking about a little one! Right now, we are expecting to hear about our child somewhere between January and February. So we are planning to enjoy December as one of our last months as "just a married couple"!
We were so nervous about this final visit. The social worker showed up and Sunny was a complete angel. She remembered her from last time! She was soo cute, she only barked (again) when the case worker did not pet her! She still wanted that attention! All of us sat in the living room while the case worker asked a variety of questions. During that time, Sunny was sleeping on the couch between us. It's almost like if you didn't know she was there, you never would have guessed it.
The questions lasted for about 2 hours again. Then, she had a long checklist of items to look for in our home. She checked for the child safety locks, working fire extinguishers, and working smoke detectors. She noticed that we had two disaster plans - one in the child's room and one in the living room. She also noticed that our cords from the blinds in our home were properly placed so a child could not reach them. Another thing she checked was that all of our rugs in our house had the grip stuff on the bottom so they would not come loose.
We then signed some papers and she left us with one last "homework assignment". We had to create a three-generation family tree for each one of us. We also had to note if the family member was deceased, and the year they were deceased. Taryn's was pretty easy because her family is pretty small. Russell's was kind of difficult, because his Mom and Dad had at least 7 siblings each! But, we figured that out and came up with two great looking family trees! Right before she left, she told us that she thought we would make great parents! Yeah!!!
What happens next? The approval process. The social worker told us that these normally go pretty fast and that we should be approved by the end of the year. And then that's where the fun part begins-we start talking about a little one! Right now, we are expecting to hear about our child somewhere between January and February. So we are planning to enjoy December as one of our last months as "just a married couple"!
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
It's Time for a Home Study!!
Things have certainly been interesting around here! On Monday, I found out I was going to Kennedy Space Center for a fantastic children's librarian workshop! And I was one of 40 applicants selected. I was told they received over 100 applications, so that's pretty awesome.
On Tuesday, several things happened. Russell went to start his truck, moved about 1/4 mile, and discovered the alternator is out. Ughh. So now we are down to sharing one car until the alternator can come in (which will be Monday).
But the best thing happened on Tuesday! I was at lunch and I received a call to set up our home study!! Our home study is scheduled for this coming Tuesday, November 1, at 10 a.m. This is the call we have definitely been waiting on. I am told this home study should last at least 2-3 hours. This is the second home study (out of 3) that we will need to have. The third and final home study is supposed to be completed within a month from Tuesday. But, we know how these things go so we are not getting our hopes up too high about that.
We still have alot to do to get ready for this home study. We have been cleaning like crazy and putting the child locks back on our cabinets. We took them off after the first home study because there was no use keeping them on when it is just the two of us living at our house.
So what happens next? This home study is conducted by an outside vendor. They have 30 days to complete both home studies and write up their reports in order to get paid by DFCS. Next, we go for local, regional, and state approval (which could take at least 1-2 months) and then it gets really exciting!! That's when we will eventually find out details about our child!! And of course, that's the best part. :)
I'll be sure to post next week to update you all on our visit!!
-Taryn
On Tuesday, several things happened. Russell went to start his truck, moved about 1/4 mile, and discovered the alternator is out. Ughh. So now we are down to sharing one car until the alternator can come in (which will be Monday).
But the best thing happened on Tuesday! I was at lunch and I received a call to set up our home study!! Our home study is scheduled for this coming Tuesday, November 1, at 10 a.m. This is the call we have definitely been waiting on. I am told this home study should last at least 2-3 hours. This is the second home study (out of 3) that we will need to have. The third and final home study is supposed to be completed within a month from Tuesday. But, we know how these things go so we are not getting our hopes up too high about that.
We still have alot to do to get ready for this home study. We have been cleaning like crazy and putting the child locks back on our cabinets. We took them off after the first home study because there was no use keeping them on when it is just the two of us living at our house.
So what happens next? This home study is conducted by an outside vendor. They have 30 days to complete both home studies and write up their reports in order to get paid by DFCS. Next, we go for local, regional, and state approval (which could take at least 1-2 months) and then it gets really exciting!! That's when we will eventually find out details about our child!! And of course, that's the best part. :)
I'll be sure to post next week to update you all on our visit!!
-Taryn
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Timeline
So many of you have been asking me what happens next. I'm sorry for taking so long but I've been busy with work and then I've been just plain tired!
During the parenting classes last week, we received a HUGE packet of paperwork that we need to fill out. It's probably about 100 pages worth. Let's just say that it pretty much asks for our life story. We have 60 days to fill it out, but our goal is to get it back to our social worker around July 15. After that, we will have two more home studies which will be much more extensive than the first one. The person conducting the two home studies, I'm told, will ask us alot of questions, and will be similar to some of the questions we are answering in our packet of paperwork.
After the home studies are complete (which should be late August or early September), our packet goes before local, regional, and state approval. Once we are approved by the state (late September, hopefully!), we are then considered a resource family for adoption. Our case worker works with other case workers in the state of Georgia to find a child that matches our needs. Once they find a child, they call us with the information and set up a meeting with the child's foster parent (if they are in a foster home), our case worker, the child's case worker, and the director of the local DFCS to work out pre-placement visits. Pre-placement visits are scheduled times where we get to spend time with the child. These visits start out at just a few hours each to overnight visits.
If everything works out in pre-placement, then the child will come to live with us. During the time the child is living with us, we work with our attorney and the court to make the child legally ours. It takes approximately 6 months for the adoption to be finalized through a judge. During that time, the case worker will make monthly visits to ensure everything is going well. If things do not work out in pre-placement visits, then we will go back to the drawing board as a resource family for adoption. Of course, this is an extremely quick version of the entire process. I would probably bore most of you with all the gritty details.
My hope is that we will at least be in pre-placement visits with our future child by Christmas. Wouldn't that be the best Christmas gift of all for us?
During the parenting classes last week, we received a HUGE packet of paperwork that we need to fill out. It's probably about 100 pages worth. Let's just say that it pretty much asks for our life story. We have 60 days to fill it out, but our goal is to get it back to our social worker around July 15. After that, we will have two more home studies which will be much more extensive than the first one. The person conducting the two home studies, I'm told, will ask us alot of questions, and will be similar to some of the questions we are answering in our packet of paperwork.
After the home studies are complete (which should be late August or early September), our packet goes before local, regional, and state approval. Once we are approved by the state (late September, hopefully!), we are then considered a resource family for adoption. Our case worker works with other case workers in the state of Georgia to find a child that matches our needs. Once they find a child, they call us with the information and set up a meeting with the child's foster parent (if they are in a foster home), our case worker, the child's case worker, and the director of the local DFCS to work out pre-placement visits. Pre-placement visits are scheduled times where we get to spend time with the child. These visits start out at just a few hours each to overnight visits.
If everything works out in pre-placement, then the child will come to live with us. During the time the child is living with us, we work with our attorney and the court to make the child legally ours. It takes approximately 6 months for the adoption to be finalized through a judge. During that time, the case worker will make monthly visits to ensure everything is going well. If things do not work out in pre-placement visits, then we will go back to the drawing board as a resource family for adoption. Of course, this is an extremely quick version of the entire process. I would probably bore most of you with all the gritty details.
My hope is that we will at least be in pre-placement visits with our future child by Christmas. Wouldn't that be the best Christmas gift of all for us?
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